Welcome to the fourth annual edition of our Diva Draft feature here at Diva Dirt! If you haven’t been with us over the last couple of years, the premise is simple — each year, we make several predictions/suggestions for the WWE Draft in the lead-up to it taking place. This year’s Draft is set for Monday and promises to shake things up once again. Check back over the next week leading up to the Draft for our picks!

LAYLA TO RAW

Flawless Ms Lay El, we just can’t stand to see you bullied no more! With LayCool imploding and Michelle McCruel coming out to play, maybe it’s time to separate the now former BFFs by moving Layla to Raw.

As the situation between Layla and Michelle escalates, we’d have the pair decide that SmackDown isn’t big enough for the both of ‘em. Lay and Cool would duke it out in a ‘Loser Leaves SmackDown’ match at Extreme Rules, with the loser (Layla) being moved over to Raw the next night. This match would serve as a finale to the one and a half year run of LayCool, going out with a bang with a big-time match — and separate the pair so we don’t get a boring 6-month rivalry between them on SmackDown.

Over on Raw, Layla, now a babyface, could hopefully be bumped up to Divas Title status in a feud with the Bella Twins. Layla, she of much spark and personality, is just the dynamic babyface champion the Divas division needs! Her quirky humor reminds me of one Trish Stratus and well, there’s a reason why she’s the first ever Diva Dirt Legacy Award winner. Layla certainly has the tools to be a funny, engaging babyface because she has a likability about her.

How about Melina vs Layla? That too would be an exciting fresh feud with both Divas on an even keel, as opposed to their previous matches.

Or you could just keep her as a heel but on a new show. There’s certainly got to be enough Divas that dislike her due to her antics in LayCool and may want to pick a bone with her. Eve Torres, Natalya and Gail Kim are all options to be paired with.

Your thoughts? Layla to Raw – yay or nay?

Welcome to the fourth annual edition of our Diva Draft feature here at Diva Dirt! If you haven’t been with us over the last couple of years, the premise is simple — each year, we make several predictions/suggestions for the WWE Draft in the lead-up to it taking place. This year’s Draft is set for Monday and promises to shake things up once again. Check back over the next week leading up to the Draft for our picks!

BETH PHOENIX TO RAW

Back in 2009 during the Diva Trade, it seemed like a nifty idea to move the Glamazon over to the SmackDown brand with such Divas as Michelle McCool, Mickie James and Natalya. There was also the Women’s Championship. Now? Three of those four things are gone and we’ve already seen Beth exhaust her feud potential with Michelle. Simply put, it’s time for Beth to return to Raw!

Beth had a pretty stellar time on SmackDown between October ’09 and May last year, when she was unfortunately sidelined with an ACL tear. Upon her return we figured she’d come back on top form, finish her feud with LayCool and go onto capture the Divas Championship in quick succession. That didn’t happen. After a stellar Tables Match last December, Beth then faded into the background and hasn’t really done much of note since.

We want our Glamzon back! She’s done her time on SmackDown, now it’s time for her to return to prominence. Moving her to Raw could lead to a feud between her and the Bella Twins over the Divas Championship. How about putting the belt on Beth and then having Awesome Kong debut in a program with the Glamazon?

Not to mention that Beth’s ‘Divas of Destruction’ partner, Natalya, is over on Raw too. We could see them reunited against the Bellas — perhaps even two-on-one against Kong!

Perhaps lending credence to a possible Beth switch is the fact that her WWE.com profile page lists her under Raw and not SmackDown: http://www.wwe.com/superstars/raw/bethphoenix. Clue, red herring or simple human error? It’s unlikely that the WWE.com staff know the results of the Draft as yet, so I’d take this with a pinch of salt for now. But still, it could be an idea for tonight’s show.

Your thoughts? Beth to Raw – yay or nay?

Welcome to the fourth annual edition of our Diva Draft feature here at Diva Dirt! If you haven’t been with us over the last couple of years, the premise is simple — each year, we make several predictions/suggestions for the WWE Draft in the lead-up to it taking place. This year’s Draft is set for Monday and promises to shake things up once again. Check back over the next week leading up to the Draft for our picks!

ALICIA FOX TO SMACKDOWN

Two years ago a rising star in Alicia Fox was ripped from SmackDown, where she had made strides in just a matter of months, and placed onto Raw where, like many others, she ended up in purgatory. Sometimes seen, often not, Alicia has become a background player almost — this despite a two month run as Divas Champion. We want our big-haired, sassy Fox back!

With Layla presumably turning babyface, Alicia could perhaps regain her one-time spot as Michelle McCool’s understudy. I mean, think about it: she was with Michelle first, not Layla. Had she not be traded to Raw, would LayCool have happened? Perhaps with a chip on her shoulder that she didn’t get the titles and PPV spots that came with being part of LayCool, Alicia could make Layla’s life hell — and realign herself with her one-time mentor.

There’s also something to be said about a possible Beth Phoenix vs Alicia Fox feud. Unlikely a pairing as they may seem — of course, Beth is much more experienced and stacked like a bodybuilder — there’s something that intrigues me about this idea, perhaps because we haven’t seen it before? It would definitely be a fresh feud. Alicia, young, overzealous and eager, could want to ‘make a splash’ by taking out the biggest girl in the yard.

What we most want to see from Alicia, that we didn’t get to see much of on Raw, is some more personality. We know she’s got it, but it just needs the opportunity to come out.

Your thoughts? Alicia to SmackDown – yay or nay?

Welcome to the fourth annual edition of our Diva Draft feature here at Diva Dirt! If you haven’t been with us over the last couple of years, the premise is simple — each year, we make several predictions/suggestions for the WWE Draft in the lead-up to it taking place. This year’s Draft is set for Monday and promises to shake things up once again. Check back over the next week leading up to the Draft for our picks!

MELINA TO SMACKDOWN

She’s been Raw’s A-List Diva for a couple of years now, but Melina really impressed us back when she was on SmackDown in her months-long feud with Michelle McCool. Having fallen into the background on Monday nights, perhaps it’s time for Melina to go back to where it all started for her: the blue brand.

Let’s face it, SmackDown could definitely use the extra faces right now too! With LayCool on the verge of breaking up, we need an extra bad girl (or five) to spice things up! Melina’s Latina temperament seems like the perfect fit to bounce off of the lovable babyfaces such as Kelly Kelly and Beth Phoenix. I mean come on, who wouldn’t want to see Beth and Melina mix it up one more time? Only this go around, Melina would be the heel and Beth would be the babyface. Color me intrigued!

Then there’s the possibility of Kelly vs Melina. Several years ago upon her debut, Melina had a short but memorable tiff with one Torrie Wilson. Perhaps Kelly, the most popular Diva on SmackDown, and Melina, the ‘dominant Diva’, could have a similar feud over who is the top dog on the blue brand.

And yes, it has crossed our minds that we could see one time rivals, Michelle and Melina be a deviously delicious heel duo.

Your thoughts? Melina to SmackDown – yay or nay?

The 2010 Draft has come to a close and we have now learned that three Divas will be moving homes this year, way down from last year’s eight moves. Just how will they fit into their new brands? What can they offer? Let’s discuss…

Kelly Kelly

Kelly Kelly’s move to SmackDown reminds me in a sense of Torrie Wilson’s move in 2007 and Maria’s in 2008. Here is a hot, popular girl that they just don’t know what to do with. She isn’t quite a wrestler but she isn’t just eye candy. They want to push them but they don’t want to give them the belt — I think Kelly falls into a similar category. For both Torrie and Maria however, their moves signalled the opportunity to wrestle more and with Mickie James released, I expect this move will allow Kelly to come straight onto the SmackDown brand and work alongside Beth Phoenix against Team Lay-Cool. Kelly is a Diva who knows her handful of moves, throws in her screaming and that’s what she’ll do. I question whether or not we’ll see any actual improvement or anything new from Kelly on SmackDown. Hopefully, putting her against like someone like Michelle McCool will allow the best to be brought in her — McCool brought out some of Maria’s best matches during her time on SmackDown. I look back to 2008 and a match between Kelly and Natalya and that is what I want to see from Kelly, less offense and more ‘punching bag’, because in that match she sold Natalya’s moves and made her look like a million bucks. I’d like to see her do the same for Michelle and Layla. However, this could also be an opportunity to refreshen her character by giving her backstage segments and such with Lay-Cool. Kelly, as pretty and smiley as she may be, lacks character so they should work on that too. Given her popularity, I do see her overtaking Tiffany on SmackDown which is a shame to me because Tiffany has been doing a great job on the show in her few appearances. She, like Kelly, may be pretty and blonde — but she also has lots of fire and aggression that Kelly lacks in the ring. Hopefully, WWE sees Tiffany’s potential over Kelly’s because in my opinion, she has peaked as a performer.

More after the cut:

Natalya

Whether or not this move has any bearing on the Divas division on Raw remains to be seen, but if it does — wow, this could perhaps make Raw incredibly strong on paper. With Nattie moving over to the red brand with the Hart Dynasty, it could very well be that she’ll just continue her current role as manager of the new Unified Tag Team Champions and not take a wrestling role just like she did on SmackDown. However, were she to become part of the Divas division, the Raw Divas will have a roster to rival the efforts of SmackDown in the past few months. Just think about it: Eve, who isn’t half bad in the ring, along with Gail Kim and Natalya on the babyface side against Maryse, Alicia Fox & Jillian on the heel side. Sounds like a pretty decent roster to me. Factor in Melina’s return in the summer and Raw has a wealth of talent. Babyface Natalya on Raw is something I have been wanting to see from the moment she debuted two years ago. She’s gorgeous, she’s blonde, she’s a heck of a wrestler and she’s Canadian — remind you of someone? What a successor she could have been to the 7-time Women’s Champion, dominating Monday Night Raw. Still, there is hope and I think it’d be very exciting to see her go up against Maryse, Alicia and Jillian. Plus, perhaps we could even see a ‘friendly’ match between Gail Kim and Natalya, easily two of my favourite wrestlers in the Divas division. It’s evident that Eve is the new top babyface on Raw but hopefully Nattie will get her shot soon too. I think she could bring great matches out of Maryse just like she did with Kelly two years ago. She’s already worked with Alicia on ECW so that too could be interesting to see as memory recalls they had a great match. Again, all this depends on time — it’s no use having a great roster if they’re not going to afford them the time and effort. Raw definitely got the better half of the deal and this Divas division looks amazing on paper but on television, it’s another story.

Rosa Mendes

The only of my Draft picks to come true (*tear*) happened to my wildcard pick — Rosa Mendes. Never underestimate the power of the wildcard! Well, what can we say about Rosa? She isn’t exactly the best in-ring performer and that is probably why we’ve seen so little of her wrestling in the past several months. However as I wrote over the weekend, every brand needs a jobber and that’s a role that Rosa could fill beautifully — especially on a taped show. Let’s face it, Layla has grown out of the ‘heel jobber’ role and actually become an extremely well-rounded character and wrestler and with her win over Mickie James last week, it’s evident that this is not the Layla who kept losing matches a year ago. Layla is slowly working her way up to ‘top Divadom’ and that means you need a new lackey to take all the losses. Working as the new resident heel jobber of SmackDown, Rosa could be pinned by the likes of Beth, Kelly and Tiffany on television so Layla doesn’t have to be. In the meantime, working with girls like Beth, Layla and Michelle could help Rosa up her game and allow her to get better in the ring. There’s also the opportunity to, like Kelly, see more flare and personality from Rosa who I think has a lot of fiery Latina-ness that she could bring to the table — there’s nothing wrong with jobbing in style! It’s how Layla got over against the likes of Beth. The only downside to this move and Kelly’s move is that it’s become painstakingly obvious that there aren’t many top feuds that you can do on this brand. The only two Divas that could conceivably hold the Women’s Championship is either Beth Phoenix or Michelle McCool — how long before that wears thin? I can’t quite imagine a Kelly, Tiffany or Rosa going for the title. Layla could be a contender but I don’t think WWE quite sees what we see in her. Hopefully Serena will become more involved with the division and perhaps you could even move Melina over when she returns.

That wraps the 2010 WWE Draft. How do you think each Divas will fare on their new brands? What do you want to see them do? Post in the comments. Also vote for your favourite Draft move below:

Rosa Mendes and Natalya were two of 11 Supplemental Draft trades on WWE.com today.

Natalya, along with The Hart Dynasty, now moves over to Raw. Meanwhile, Rosa Mendes is now on SmackDown, breaking away from her beau Zack Ryder.

Both of these moves are in addition to Kelly Kelly’s switch last night on Raw. She is now part of the SmackDown brand also.

What do you think of these switches? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Last night on Raw, Kelly Kelly became the first and only Draft pick on the live show, but will any Divas follow suit in the Supplemental Draft over at WWE.com? Join us for our annual real time live blog as we update you throughout the Draft as when Diva draft picks occur. As always, you can join us with your own commentary too!

Leave your thoughts in the comments!

In the first move of the 2010 WWE Draft, Kelly Kelly was drafted to the SmackDown brand after Team Lay-Cool defeated Raw’s Eve Torres & Maryse to win a Draft pick.

As a result of her draft, Kelly became the #10 top trending topic on Twitter worldwide. Pretty cool feat in itself.

What do you think of Kelly on SmackDown? Sound off in the comments and vote below!

Welcome to the third annual edition of our Diva Draft feature here at Diva Dirt! If you haven’t been with us over the last couple of years, the premise is simple — each year, I make six predictions/suggestions over six consecutive days in the lead up to the WWE Draft which this year falls on Monday, April 26th. In previous years, I have successfully managed to predict some of the movies; in 2008, I predicted both draft picks and in 2009, four of my six predictions came true with a fifth later being realised in the Diva Trade of October 2009. So, let’s hope this year will be just as fruitful. Check back for all six of my picks over the coming week!

Note: Due to Katie Lea’s release, this year’s Diva Draft has been cut down to just five predictions/suggestions as Katie was one of my six original picks.

In my fifth and final Draft pick for Diva Draft 2010, I nominate Alicia Fox to move to SmackDown. Yes, for the second year in a row, I want to see Ms Fierce move to pastures blue — last year, I had pegged Fox to move from ECW to SmackDown, which came true. Will it come true again?

Alicia Fox is a Diva on the rise, a Diva with all the tools for success — she just needs an opportunity to shine. She is easily, to me, the most exciting young Diva on the roster today. She has already shown that she can go in the ring with the best of them (Mickie James, Melina) and she has a sexy, unique look. During her last stay on SmackDown, she also began to develop some great personality which — to the shock of no one — disappeared when she was moved to the personality vacuum that is Raw in July. Even then, there were glimmers of attitude from Alicia, particularly in her two week feud with Mickie James. That feud resulted in an awesome match, often underrated, between the pair at Hell in a Cell.

Moving Fox back to SmackDown can only help her reach her potential. Should Lay-Cool move to Raw, as I predicted/suggested, then this young talent will only further get lost in the shuffle. As bold as it may sound, I’d really love to see Alicia move over to SmackDown, replacing McCool as the top heel and have a prolonged feud with Beth Phoenix. You can’t create stars without giving them opportunities (Eve is an example), I believe that Alicia deserves an opportunity to work a long programme with an experienced Diva that can help put her over that much more. Already, she’s got most of the tools she needs to succeed but they just need to be honed and crafted to perfection. Enter Beth.

Should Lay-Cool move over to Raw, you could even have Vickie Guerrero hang back and stay on SmackDown (after all she is the Official Consultant) and maybe become manager to Alicia. The rub that would give to Fox would help put her over even more.

Here is a Diva that could potentially be the future of the Divas division. Let’s hope she can break out!

Final Thoughts
So there we have it, Diva Draft 2010 is all done. Following McCool’s title loss last night at Extreme Rules, it’s looking more and more likely that she will move over to Raw and I’m hoping she takes Layla (and possibly Vickie) with her. This would perhaps the biggest move that could take place in the Draft and would perhaps be the only move to be made on the live broadcast tonight.

Over on Raw, I’d like to see the heel side lead by Michelle McCool and Layla, flagged perhaps by Maryse and Jillian with Eve Torres, Kelly Kelly and The Bella Twins on the face side. Of course when Melina returns, you have her steady hand also on the babyface side. It looks a possibility that The Hart Dynasty may move to Raw so there’s even a babyface Natalya to work that division.

SmackDown for me would be lead by Beth Phoenix with Gail Kim and Tiffany beneath her. As for the heel side, Alicia Fox would be my ideal pick to lead the heels followed by Rosa Mendes & Serena hopefully getting more active. I had pegged Katie Lea for a switch to SmackDown to be part of the heel side but obviously, that is now not going to happen. I could see Maryse moved over to SmackDown in place of McCool which I think would make an interesting dynamic also: Beth and Gail as top faces with Maryse and Alicia as top heels.

Either way, I should hope they beef up the SmackDown side a little more especially with the release of Mickie James.

Join us tonight for the WWE Draft live blog from 7.45pm ET/12.45am UK.

Welcome to the third annual edition of our Diva Draft feature here at Diva Dirt! If you haven’t been with us over the last couple of years, the premise is simple — each year, I make six predictions/suggestions over six consecutive days in the lead up to the WWE Draft which this year falls on Monday, April 26th. In previous years, I have successfully managed to predict some of the movies; in 2008, I predicted both draft picks and in 2009, four of my six predictions came true with a fifth later being realised in the Diva Trade of October 2009. So, let’s hope this year will be just as fruitful. Check back for all six of my picks over the coming week!

Note: Due to Katie Lea’s release, this year’s Diva Draft has been cut down to just five predictions/suggestions as Katie was one of my six original picks.

You didn’t think I’d ship Michelle over to Raw on her own, did you? Layla has the unique distinction of being highlighted in my Diva Draft feature every single year. I don’t know what it is but each year, I seem to have Lay-DD. (Get it?)

Anyway, this past year since moving to SmackDown, Layla has come into her own and become the amazing Diva I always knew she could be. I have believed in Layla since I saw her on the Diva Search all those years ago. This girl is breathtakingly beautiful, has lots of charisma and personality and I always felt that she could go in the ring if given the oppportunity. Look at her now — she’s had some fantastic matches with the likes of Melina, Mickie James and Beth Phoenix on SmackDown and has even hitched her wagon to arguably, the top Diva in the WWE right now, Michelle McCool.

Team Lay-Cool has allowed Layla to shine like never before and along with Michelle, she has been the most consistently used Diva in 2010 thus far. Pay per view matches? Check. Long segments on SmackDown? Check. Moving the act over to Raw seems to be the next best bet. They’ve proven to be effective characters and we all know that Raw is pretty much SNL these days with more emphasis on character than wrestling. I feel that Michelle and Layla on Raw could actually help the women’s division over on Raw given that they are characters with the moves to back it up.

I don’t know about you, but I really like seeing Layla and Michelle as a team and the longer Layla’s wagon is hitched to Michelle, the less chance there is of her getting lost in the shuffle as jobber heel #2445543. I’d like to see this act continue for a little while longer, on Raw, before the two perhaps split up and even feud over the Divas Title — assuming Michelle were to win it from Eve eventually.

Layla has so much to offer and has upped her game ten-fold in the last year. As mentioned at the beginning, every year we’ve done this feature, I’ve always had Layla as one of my picks and every year so far, she has moved. I hope we can make it three for three [with Michelle in tow].

Check back tomorrow for the final pick

Welcome to the third annual edition of our Diva Draft feature here at Diva Dirt! If you haven’t been with us over the last couple of years, the premise is simple — each year, I make six predictions/suggestions over six consecutive days in the lead up to the WWE Draft which this year falls on Monday, April 26th. In previous years, I have successfully managed to predict some of the movies; in 2008, I predicted both draft picks and in 2009, four of my six predictions came true with a fifth later being realised in the Diva Trade of October 2009. So, let’s hope this year will be just as fruitful. Check back for all six of my picks over the coming week!

Note: Due to Katie Lea’s release, this year’s Diva Draft has been cut down to just five predictions/suggestions as Katie was one of my six original picks.

Welcome to this year’s wildcard pick! For those of you who haven’t followed the Diva Draft feature in previous years, each year I make one pick that I think is slightly more out there and perhaps not likely to happen. Usually, this ‘honour’ [if you can call it that] goes to one of the newer girls who are still trying to establish themselves. And the best part? Each year, my wildcard pick has come true. In 2008, I predicted that Layla, who was on ECW at the time, would move to Raw — she did. And last year, I predicted that The Bella Twins would make an unlikely move to Raw also — they did. This year, I feel that Rosa Mendes could/should find her way onto the blue brand and here’s why…

Quite frankly, every brand needs a jobber. Sure, it’s not a glamorous position to be in, but not everyone can be the top Diva in a title feud. Often times, being in the role of ‘jobber girl’ can help a wrestler develop and get better and better — just look at Layla. In the past year on SmackDown, losing matches to the likes of Melina, Mickie James and Beth Phoenix, Layla has grown as a performer to the point where she has become a consistently great worker herself. Layla has managed to hone her craft and is now bubbling under as a potential top Diva. Having paid her dues now, it’s high time that Layla was given a more prominent role — enter Rosa to take her old spot.

With Jillian having the jobbing market cornered on Raw, moving Rosa to SmackDown would put her in that ‘lesser role’ which would be a great way for her to wrestle more and hone her skills against girls like Beth Phoenix or well, I would have said Mickie James, but that’s not the case anymore. There’s also opportunities to work with and learn from Layla, Michelle, Natalya and Serena. I think this could be a beneficial opportunity for Rosa to up her game in the ring. Who knows, with time, she could even reach the level of Layla. Travelling on the road and working house shows with these Divas is just what Rosa needs, meanwhile on TV she could be used to lose to the likes of Beth and company.

Is it the ideal job? Obviously not. But it’s a step up from being lost in the shuffle as she currently is. Rosa takes breathtaking photoshoots and seems to have some character just waiting to come out, judging by her time as the Glamazon’s understudy — SmackDown could be what she needs to become more well rounded.

Check back tomorrow for pick #4

Welcome to the third annual edition of our Diva Draft feature here at Diva Dirt! If you haven’t been with us over the last couple of years, the premise is simple — each year, I make six predictions/suggestions over six consecutive days in the lead up to the WWE Draft which this year falls on Monday, April 26th. In previous years, I have successfully managed to predict some of the movies; in 2008, I predicted both draft picks and in 2009, four of my six predictions came true with a fifth later being realised in the Diva Trade of October 2009. So, let’s hope this year will be just as fruitful. Check back for all six of my picks over the coming week!

Arguably one of the most exciting performers in the Divas division, Gail Kim’s much anticipated return to WWE last March quickly fizzled out. We soon realised that despite becoming one of TNA’s top Knockouts and upping her game since her previous stint with WWE, Gail wasn’t a priority for the WWE. No sooner was this more evident than her trade to Raw last July where she became another ‘pretty face in the crowd’ along with the likes of Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres. With teases of pushes proving unfruitful, it’s hard to believe that this is the same Gail Kim who had those amazing matches with Awesome Kong in late 2007 through early 2008.

Gail has all the tools to become a top Diva for the WWE, Jim Ross commented that she has the potential to be a Trish-like figure for the women’s division, but unfortunately with the likes of Melina, Eve and Kelly on Raw, Gail has no chance of breaking out. That is why I believe a move to SmackDown is in her best interest and the interest of the women’s division, this is a woman with so much to offer but hasn’t been given the right time to develop as a character to match those impressive moves. Moving her to SmackDown would give her more of a chance to develop herself as a character, SmackDown’s writers have proved effective in giving Beth Phoenix and Mickie James new leases on life and I think they can do the same with Gail too.

Obviously, with Beth, Mickie and Tiffany as babyfaces, Gail would perhaps get lost in the shuffle which is why I’d personally like to see her become a heel, especially if Michelle were to leave the brand for Raw. A heel Gail is something we haven’t seen in quite some time but looking back at her work in TNA, I know she can do it. It is true that heels have more fun in wrestling and I think that’d be a perfect way to establish Gail as a character because there’s only so much you can say or do as a babyface.

Ideally, I’d love to see Gail become one of the top heels on SmackDown and feud with the likes of Beth Phoenix and Mickie James, which I’m sure would lead to some amazing matches.

We’ve seen SmackDown give more life to Beth, Mickie and Layla upon their moves from Raw to SmackDown and I hope Gail is next.

Check back tomorrow for pick #3

Welcome to the third annual edition of our Diva Draft feature here at Diva Dirt! If you haven’t been with us over the last couple of years, the premise is simple — each year, I make six predictions/suggestions over six consecutive days in the lead up to the WWE Draft which this year falls on Monday, April 26th. In previous years, I have successfully managed to predict some of the movies; in 2008, I predicted both draft picks and in 2009, four of my six predictions came true with a fifth later being realised in the Diva Trade of October 2009. So, let’s hope this year will be just as fruitful. Check back for all six of my picks over the coming week!

The current reigning Women’s Champion, Michelle McCool has spent her entire career as part of the SmackDown part and has been a big hand in helping develop the now extremely strong women’s division on the blue brand. As one of the pioneering Divas of said women’s division, Michelle has spent most of the past two years feuding with the likes of Victoria, Natalya, Maryse, Maria, Melina, Mickie James and currently Beth Phoenix. Michelle is a woman that is on top of her game and putting her on Raw could be just what Michelle needs to truly make her mark in WWE history.

Already, she has made history as the first ever Divas Champion, the first woman to hold both belts yadda yadda yadda, but she’s never been on Raw where some of the most historic Divas like Trish Stratus and Lita left their mark. Michelle is one of those few talents that has accomplished so much on her native brand that you need to shift her over to the [so called] ‘A show’ at some point, ala Rey Mysterio. This is the show that WWE considers the home of its big Superstars and Divas and it seems as though Michelle is ready to make the move.

As a viewer, Michelle’s presence on Raw could be a big plus. In my opinion, she is one of the most consistent workers on the Divas roster, turning in great matches — particularly on pay per view — which like Raw, are live. Her presence on Raw could help us get out of the rut of having inexperienced Divas in two minute matches for fear of them messing up a move live on television.

Whether or not she brings her Women’s Championship with her is another question, though I would suggest it’s too soon since last year’s title switch to now switch them back. I’d have McCool drop the belt to Beth Phoenix at Sunday’s Extreme Rules before moving over to Raw where she could begin challenging Eve Torres for the Divas Championship. We know she has great chemistry with Maryse also which should create an interesting dynamic — perhaps you could have all three Divas feuding for the belt. And the allure of revisiting the Michelle-Melina feud upon the latter’s return in the summer is just too hard to resist.

It seems like it is Michelle’s time to make the move to Raw and see how the other half live. But will she bring her Team Lay-Cool partner with her? Will Layla be one of my other five picks? Find out soon!

Check back tomorrow for pick #2

We dust off ‘Diva Draft’ for a one-off special to tie in with the closure of ECW. The Land of Extreme will be no more in two weeks time and leaves behind quite a legacy for the Divas who’ve passed through its doors. No, I’m not talking about Jazz or Francine or any of those girls — why bother when we can value such contributions as Kelly’s Expose or Extreme Expose?

But for the three Divas remaining on ECW, they’re going to need new homes because as mentioned by ECW Champion, Christian on Raw, all of the ECW stars are now free agents for Raw and SmackDown. We weigh in or where the Divas should go:

Rosa Mendes

Moving from Raw to ECW in the big Diva Trade of October 2009, Rosa managed to find a spot on the show rather than drifting away as we had originally assumed. Aligning herself with the annoying Zack Ryder, the duo quickly became the ‘it’ couple of ECW and Rosa has been on the arm of Ryder for his many matches since. The manager role suits Mendes, who wasn’t much of a wrestler during her time on Raw — she’s easy to look at and has the whole ‘spoiled rich girl’ gimmick down to a tee. Her and Ryder fit pretty well together as the proverbial king and queen of the prom. There’s no reason to break up this team and have Rosa flounder in the Divas division until she’s eventually released. I’d keep her with Ryder and move the duo and their gimmick over to SmackDown. Ryder seems a perfect fit to be elevated into competition for the Intercontinental Championship against the likes of John Morrison, Drew McIntyre, Matt Hardy and others. Their gimmick could also easily fit in on Raw which seems to be more about gimmicks and characters than wrestling, but when you have The Miz over there, it may be too similar. Either way, I expect Ryder — and ergo, Rosa — will be a staple of WWE Superstars so it doesn’t matter too much which brand they’re on.

More after the cut:

Savannah

Here’s a young talent that has an extremely bright future and it isn’t in ring announcing. Sadly, it’s incredibly likely that Savannah will stay on the NXT brand as a ring announcer but she is just what SmackDown could use right now. With Mickie James and Maria, who is more often unused than used, as the lone babyface Divas on SmackDown, the brand is in need of some fresh blood to battle the evil Lay-Cool and Glamazon. Savannah has this ‘put her in your pocket’ appeal about her that just screams babyface, she’s always so smiley and happy-looking that she should easily be able to pull off the role of the lovable Diva. Her small size and stature works to her advantage too as a scrappy young underdog — something Mickie James once considered. It’d be conceivable that the new Women’s Champ would take this young talent under her wing, seeing herself in her. Sure, she’d likely be used to even the numbers in tag matches etc. but I can totally see Savannah as an ‘ultimate underdog’ ala Rey Mysterio for the Divas division. Ideally, I’d love to see her debut on SmackDown in shock fashion — picking up an upset win over a top Diva i.e. Michelle perhaps with a distraction from Mickie. From there you could tie Savannah into the main storyline with Michelle wanting revenge against Savannah, calling her win a fluke and have her eventually begin teaming up with Mickie.

Tiffany

Outgoing ECW General Manager, Tiffany is a hard one to predict. She could easily find her way into the Divas division but when you’ve played an authority figure, becoming ‘just another Diva’ seems like a downgrade. I’d say keep her as the new GM of NXT — after all she is young and part of the ‘next generation’ that the show stands for. Already known for her work in FCW, it wouldn’t be a stretch to have her as GM for the Superstars and Divas of that brand, most of whom will be coming in from FCW. Keep her where she is.

Though she has yet to make her official re-debut on SmackDown, newly drafted Diva Alicia Fox already has a few apparent storylines that are in the works for her. Some interesting developments have come from Alicia’s move to SmackDown. The official “preview” advertisement for Alicia’s debut on SmackDown over on WWE.com describes Alicia’s character from wedding planner to dancer:

After being caught on tape carousing with Edge, The Rated-R Superstar’s wedding planner traveled to the U.K., where she met the talented DJ Gabriel. Both returned from across the pond to turn heads on ECW. Now that Alicia is back on SmackDown, what kind of waves will she make on Friday nights?

If you were in the WWE.com Live Blog with The Fink during the Supplemental Draft, he made this comment about Alicia Fox when her name was announced:

Nothing is going to happen overnight for Alicia with this move, but again, I think that she will become a “playa” in due time.

Now, if someone were to show me the word “playa” and put it in quotes, the first thing that would come to my mind is Theodore Long, SmackDown’s new General Manager. Either that, or Fink is trying to be “hip” and sound like he’s down with the lingo or something. But assuming he’s not making a dumb comment, The Fink could be hinting at Alicia’s newe role on SmackDown. Could she be joining Teddy Long in a love relationship like former Diva Kristal Marshall did? Or maybe an assistant’s position like current General Manager of ECW, Tiffany?

Another rumor has it that Alicia Fox’s former ECW dance partner, DJ Gabriel, is on the verge of being released. This could have had a big influence in the decision to move Alicia off ECW. DJ Gabriel received a big push upon his debut with Alicia, but he never really got over with the fans and that’s why the duo has been on the losing end of matches recently. As far as running solo, another WWE.com member made the comment that “…there are a LOT of veteran Divas on SD. Rough waters for Alicia to swim solo.”  

This may all just be speculation, but if these guys are hinting at a possible character for Alicia, it looks like she may not be jumping right into the ring immediately. When the fans were polled by WWE.com during the Supplemental Draft as to what Alicia Fox should do upon her SmackDown debut, 60% proposed reuniting with Edge, now that Vickie Guerrero is on Raw and wouldn’t be around to interfere with their steamy relationship. I don’t know about y’all, but I think an angle between Alicia and Edge would be great to see. They are bound to cross paths at some point and WWE could really go with this for a while. Not to mention, this would put Alicia into the main-event scene of SmackDown where she would be at the side of one of SmackDown’s biggest names. I would have also loved to see an encounter between the returning Alicia Fox and Vickie Guerrero. It would further make Vickie a bigger heel by picking on the babyface Alicia and putting her in matches. The storyline could also be fed off the current love triangle between Vickie, Edge, and The Big Show.

On the other hand, I wouldn’t be against giving Alicia a fresh start on SmackDown. Vickie and Big Show aren’t on SmackDown anymore and Edge is going between Raw and SmackDown, so until SmackDown gets a Heavyweight Champion, Edge really has no reason to rekindle a storyline with an affair he had if nobody is on SmackDown to be mad about it. They’d have to start bringing Alicia to Raw, and frankly I don’t see that happening. Plus, going as Edge’s manager would keep Alicia in the position she was on ECW, which is being kept outside the ring and not showcasing her amazing wrestling abilites.

A clean slate on SmackDown would keep her as a singles wrestler and one of the top faces of the brand (in due time, of course) and she would be able to wrestle on a regular basis. I’m definitely preferring this option over any kind of assistant or managerial position they could give her because she would just get lost in the shuffle of Divas (for information on what could happen, see: Layla’s time on Raw)

What do y’all think? How would you like to see Alicia get brought back? Sound off with your ideas in the comments!

First of all, let’s look at the Diva Draft. With all the results now in, I am proud to announce that this year, I successfully predicted four of the six Draft picks that I projected. Yay! That’s not bad, at all. I was off the ball with my Mickie James and Natalya predictions, which I still wish had taken place, but it was not to be!

The moves have shaken up the Divas roster in it’s entirety. I can honestly say, that the landscape of both Raw and SmackDown have changed completely Diva-wise. I think we can safely say that for the first time in history, the SmackDown Divas roster looks set to take superiority of it’s Monday night counterpart – but don’t count Raw out either!

Yesterday, I talked about how I felt Melina and Maryse would fare on their new brands – taking into account today’s Supplemental Draft moves, I’m going to aim to give my thoughts on all three brands seperately.

Raw
This week, Raw lost three Divas and gained three Divas in a move that saw the Divas Champion, Maryse and the Bella Twins join Monday nights. In yesterday’s Analyis, I mentioned that I felt Maryse would slot into the top heel role on Raw, overtaking Beth Phoenix. The Draft moves that took place in the Supplemental Draft don’t really change my opinions. I expect Maryse will be pushed as the new top heel – at least for a time – while the Glamazon continues her storyline with Santino/Santina. I do think Beth will eventually come back and take her top heel spot back, it will be a nice change to see a heel other than Beth strive for a while. Once Beth comes back to the division, she’ll be much welcomed and we can interchange her and Maryse as and when needed. Jillian and Rosa, I expect, will continue to serve the roles they currently have.

The real winner though is Mickie James, who finally regains the top spot on Monday nights. No more second fiddle to a returning Candice or a returning Melina. I always say, Mickie does get a decent sized push every year but for some reason, her big push usually begins after WrestleMania and here we go! I’m assuming Mickie and Maryse will clash almost instantly and spend the next couple of months feuding, with Mickie possibly taking the Divas Championship from Maryse.

Another title contender that I think could really make it now, is Kelly Kelly. Kelly was pushed for an initial period after Raw lost both Melina and Candice to injury last summer, but upon their return took a backseat to both of them and Mickie. With just Mickie now to contend with for the top babyface spot, I expect Kelly will take a much larger role on Raw. WWE loves this girl and I think we could see her wrestling more and more often, as she takes the spot Mickie James held to Melina. Meanwhile, the incoming Bella Twins are fine in serving a lesser role to Mickie and Kelly, making up the numbers in tag team matches and such. I don’t expect their move to Raw will make all that much of a difference.

Overall, the ones to watch on Raw will be Mickie, Kelly and Maryse, I think.

SmackDown
Here’s where things get complicated. SmackDown got the biggest changes in the Draft. It lost it’s Divas Champion but gained a Women’s Champion. In the Supplemental Draft, it lost three Divas but also gained three Divas. The SmackDown women’s division definitely got the upper hand over Raw this year. It looks as though SmackDown is becoming the prime destination for Divas action in the WWE and rightfully so. I’ve enjoyed SmackDown more than Raw for the past year, so it’s nice to see WWE give SmackDown that extra strengthening. That said, SmackDown has the most work to do… it took a big hit in losing two of it’s top heels in the Draft, Maryse and Natalya.

However I think SmackDown can do it – I think they can make the post-Draft changes they need to make in a way that’s entertaining to the fans. The problem is that the brand now has six face Divas and two heel Divas. It’s almost inevitable that we’ll be seeing one of the Divas turn heel, but the question is who? I’ll talk more about that later.

SmackDown picked up some great acquisitions: Alicia Fox, Candice Michelle and Layla. I think all three of these Divas can become top Divas and add to the grandeur of SmackDown. I may not like her but Candice is considered a top Diva and could add some star power to SmackDown. However her main problem is staying healthy. I’m not confident in Candice to be honest, I don’t think she’ll stay healthy long enough and I think as a result, she won’t last in the WWE thus this pick, for me, was kinda ‘eh’. I don’t think it will stick. If it does, I expect Candice to take one of the top roles on SmackDown, however behind Gail Kim and Melina.

Meanwhile, you have Alicia Fox who is in my humble opinion, a Diva on the rise. She has the looks, she has the ability and I think she could be a future champion for the WWE. She’s an incredibly fresh, young Hollywood-esque talent that I could see going far in the WWE. I would continue to have her as a face and have her work behind Gail Kim and Melina; learn the ropes from the veterans, make up the numbers in tag matches for a while and then really launch her as a breakout star.

As for Layla, here’s another Diva with so much untapped potential that I think is just waiting to explode. And I think that the time is here for that potential to explode. SmackDown took huge hits in losing Maryse and Natalya, leaving Michelle McCool as the only heel on the brand. Enter Layla! This is it. This is her time. The loss of those two Divas works so well in Layla’s favour because she can now become the #2 heel on SmackDown. I’m so excited, because she has the heel routine down pat, she’s good in the ring and I think she could work really well with this group of Divas (Michelle, Gail and Melina). It’s time to propel Layla and make her the star she deserves to be. If done right, I think like Maryse last year, Layla will be a top Diva and title contender by year’s end.

Now as for that heel turn. One of these Divas will have to turn heel to give SmackDown some balance. We have the Women’s Champion Melina coming in as the top babyface, after her we have Gail Kim, then Maria and Candice on an even standing for the #3 spot. Then there’s Alicia who I think deserves that #3 spot more than Maria and Candice, but likely won’t get it. Finally, Eve Torres who I expect will be doing what she’s currently doing and won’t factor into the division that much. Of the lot, I would completely swerve the audience and turn the Women’s Champion heel. And I think it could work…

People love Melina as a heel and the Internet has been quick to point out that Melina’s face turn has lost it’s luster. Now, I would have kept her as a face (as I did in my original Analysis post) but since we’ve lost Natalya, I think a change needs to be made. The Draft is a time where you can have people move show and debut new characters, debut new sides to their personas and the audience will accept it because it’s a new brand. As Erin suggested, in her debut, it would work to have her straightaway come in as a heel complaining about having to join SmackDown because she’s the A-List Diva and deserves the A-List show. Completing her heel turn could be a reunion, down the line, with former MNM partner John Morrison.

I think WWE has done a good job in building up Gail Kim as the top babyface of SmackDown and for another Diva to come in now and take that spot, would be unfair. So it works in Gail’s favour too as well as balances SmackDown. WWE had done a good job of balancing Maryse and Michelle McCool as the two top heels and I think they could do that again with Melina. Maybe have them not like each other, Melina looking down her nose at Michelle because she’s a SmackDown original. So then we have the dynamic of Gail Kim working as the top babyface, with Alicia Fox, Candice and Maria trailing her while Melina, Michelle and Layla are heels. I think that works.

With the top Divas right now, Melina, Gail and Michelle, you could go the route of singles matches and triple threat matches. Something I thought about earlier was if we have Melina back with John Morrison, you could have Melina compete for/defend the Women’s Championship while Morrison feuded with Rey for the Intercontinental Championship. You could get a dream tag team there of Gail Kim and Rey Mysterio taking on Melina and Morrison. Perhaps even having a second annual ‘Winner Takes All’ match for both belts.

SmackDown is looking very strong and I think by turning Melina heel, it’ll be even stronger.

ECW
I was extremely (no pun intended) sad to lose my favourite Diva, Natalya, to the ECW brand. It shows that WWE has no interest in pushing Natalya as a wrestler right now. But in terms of what I think WWE has planned for her, in the words of T.I., “Big things popping!” I expect the move of DH Smith and Natalya to ECW were no accident and we will see the formation of the long-awaited New Hart Foundation. If you’re not going to have Natalya compete for a championship, then that is the next best thing in my eyes. No doubt this will be a stable that gets a lot of eyeballs on ‘em and will be a high profile gig for Natalya, so I’m not too worried about her disappearing off our screens with this move.

As for Katie Lea, I would have moved her to SmackDown to strengthen up the heel side. I don’t think WWE has any plans for Katie and this is the one true letdown, in my estimation, in this whole Diva roster shake-up. It’s like Katie’s the one and only Diva that has been left completely out of the loop. I don’t know what that tells you, but to me it could suggest that Katie is not long for the WWE roster, which is truly a shame.

The 2009 WWE Draft is done and dusted. This year’s Draft makes history, as more Divas than ever before were drafted to new brands. Two Divas, the champions of the company, found new homes on Monday Night and were joined by six lucky Divas in a Supplemental Draft today.

Here are the complete Draft picks:

RAW
Brie Bella
Maryse (Drafted on Monday)
Nikki Bella

SMACKDOWN
Alicia Fox
Candice Michelle
Layla
Melina (Drafted on Monday)

ECW
Natalya

The new Divas roster looks as follows:

RAW
Brie Bella
Beth Phoenix
Jillian
Kelly Kelly
Lilian Garcia
Maryse
Mickie James
Nikki Bella
Rosa Mendes

SMACKDOWN
Alicia Fox
Candice Michelle
Eve Torres
Gail Kim
Layla
Maria
Melina
Michelle McCool

ECW
Katie Lea
Natalya
Tiffany

Check back later today for a Draft Analysis on the six Divas who moved in the Supplemental Draft.

WWE shaked things up big time last night, by switching the two title belts for the Divas roster. The Women’s Championship for the first time in history, is now SmackDown-exclusive while the less-than-a-year-old Divas Championship gets the Raw spotlight. Maryse and Melina have moved, but was it worth it?

In a sense, yes. It did shake things up, along with the US-Intercontinental Championship switch. I had contemplated in the past that WWE may do this but never really expected them to pull the trigger. For Maryse, I think this is a good move. Many (including myself) expected her to move to Raw in the Draft – but I didn’t expect her to take her title with her. I expect on her new brand, she’ll start feuding with Mickie James straightaway, overtaking Beth Phoenix as Monday night’s top heel while she feuds with Santino/Santina. The argument many have made is that she’s not ready for live television and I think that is a somewhat fair assessment; but bear in mind that she has competed at pay per view and had some very good matches i.e. against Michelle McCool at Unforgiven last year and was also a key player in the Survivor Series match too. However since returning from injury, she hasn’t been on top of her game which I think could work against her.

However we’ll see how she fares in the coming weeks. Over the next year, I’m guessing that Maryse will hold onto the Divas Championship a little while longer, possibly losing it to Mickie James. I wouldn’t rule Kelly Kelly out as a title contender either and possible champion by year’s end.

Meanwhile for Friday nights, it’s the return of Melina. But this time she’s not a manager, she’s a champion and a great one at that. Melina makes history as she is the first Diva (in a really damn long line of ‘em) to take the Women’s Championship to SmackDown exclusively. This was a move I didn’t necessarily want to happen because I think she’s a great part of Raw, but in the interest of ‘shaking things up’ it certainly does that. Would I have moved Mickie over Melina? Yes. I think there was still a lot for Melina to do on Raw, but there is a lot on SmackDown as well. The Diva that initially catches my attention is Michelle McCool. I would expect that these two will begin a feud straightaway. But where does that leave recently-debuted Gail Kim? She has just started a feud with Maryse and was expected to be given a Divas Championship shot, now that belt is gone and we have a face Women’s Champion. How will these two Divas co-exist as top faces on the same brand? I have a sneaky suspicion that WWE may screw Gail like they did in 2003 and turn her heel so soon after her debut.

The annoying thing about these Draft picks is that they leave both brands imbalanced, due to the heel-face swap. Hopefully WWE will do something to rectify this in the Supplemental Draft, SmackDown could use an extra heel or two while Raw would need an extra babyface or two. In the Supplemental Draft (which takes place tomorrow) I would consider moving Layla and/or Katie Lea to the SmackDown roster and possibly move Alicia Fox to become part of the Raw brand, thus strengthening up those two sides. There are rumours that Maria may move to Raw, which would get the job done too.

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Welcome the 2009 edition of Diva Draft! It feels like just yesterday when I was putting together last year’s Diva Draft and what a result! I successfully predicted both of the Diva Draft picks as Layla moved to Raw and Maria moved to SmackDown. So this year there’s the added pressure of keeping my streak intact! Unlike last year, the Draft has moved up to April 13th from it’s usual late-June slot meaning it comes just a week after WrestleMania. So over the next few days leading up to the big Draft show, I will be predicting my picks for this year’s Draft. Like last year, I’ll be making six picks but this time, in six consecutive days.

FINAL THOUGHTS

So Diva Draft 2009 comes to an end. Over the last few days, I’ve brought you my six predicted Draft picks… some of them are likely and some of them are out there. With just a few hours to go until the Draft episode of Raw, I’m going to take a look back at the six picks and how I feel each of the divisions could work post-Draft.

First of all, to prelude this, I think I should say that predicting this year’s Draft was much harder than last year. Last year, I felt there were specific changes that needed to be made and it was much easier in choosing who gets to go where. This year, with the launch of the Divas Championship and two divisions blossoming, any given Diva really could go anywhere. With so many Divas on the roster also, it’s hard to make sure everyone gets a decent storyline and stuff, not to mention WWE’s own prejudice against the Divas which works against them having real matches and real feuds.

I feel both brands should be built around a certain number of faces and a certain number of heels. For Raw, we’d have Women’s Champion, Melina as the top Diva of the brand in terms of babyfaces while serving under her would be Kelly Kelly. To beef up the babyfaces, I’d seriously consider turning Natalya face and have her really play into her Hart family lineage. On the heel side of things, I would have Beth Phoenix, Maryse and Jillian. In lesser roles I’d have Rosa Mendes continuing her alliance with Beth Phoenix, however I could see her turning face later in the year if Beth turns on her. The Bella Twins, should they move, could also be supporting characters to Melina.

Meanwhile on SmackDown, the babyfaces would be led by Gail Kim and Mickie James, with Alicia Fox and Maria in lesser roles. Then for the heels, you’d have Michelle McCool overtaking Maryse as the new top heel and serving under her would be Layla and possibly even Katie Lea, visiting from ECW. That leaves Eve Torres in the small role she currently serves.

That is of course, just my take on things. We’ll see what WWE does tonight on Raw. I could see a complete uptilt of the entire Divas roster, with Maryse taking the Divas Championship to Raw and Melina bringing the Women’s Championship to SmackDown. That should certainly shake things up! Also another rumour suggests Candice could be on her way to SmackDown, however I choose not to acknowledge her because I don’t think she’s long for the WWE roster. There is also a chance we may not even see any drafts take place on the main show tonight, which is usually reserved for top stars. If there were to be any Diva drafts, I’d expect it to be some of the top Divas like Torrie Wilson in 2007. So tonight, if any, I would narrow it down to: Maryse, Melina, Mickie, Beth, Michelle, Candice, Gail or Maria to move. The others (and possibly to some extent Maria and Candice) could have to wait until the Supplemental Draft on Wednesday.

Join us tonight for our Draft live blog!

Tonight’s the big night! After all the waiting, the 2009 Draft happens in just a few hours. With all the anticipation of which Diva might go where, some of the Divas have taken to their blogs to discuss the possibility of them being switched and new opponents. Some of these Divas include Michelle McCool and Natalya. Here is your News Quickie with their thoughts:

- Michelle McCool gets “in character” to blog about a few of the Divas on the WWE roster, including Maryse, Melina, and Mickie James. She “doesn’t care” regardless of what happens, you know, because we’re all just living in her world. Otherwise, she’d love to see Maryse go because she’s tired of making her look good. She wants her Divas Championship back, but Maryse has gotta go! For Melina, she wants to tangle it up with her because Melina is the Women’s Champion, and Michelle plans on making history again by becoming the first ever holder of both Championships. Plus, she “never forgets” past events, and still hasn’t forgiven MNM for delivering the Snapshot to her years ago. Finally, she wants to get in the ring with the spunky Mickie James and finish what the two started at WrestleMania to prove she’s better than Mickie. That’s all we were fortunate enough to hear from her since she had enough talking to us.

- Natalya mentions that she could go to any brand and kick the butt’s of some Divas, but she’d prefer on and off-screen boyfriend Tyson Kidd go with her. As we’ve said before, Natalya and Tyson will probably be a package deal on whichever brand they get drafted to, should they go anywhere at all. Remember Natalya is still booked as a member of the SmackDown roster. Honestly, Natalya just wants to get in the ring period! Being a manager isn’t serving the third-generation, Dungeon-trained Diva well!

- Ring announcer and newly inducted member of the Hall of Fame, Howard Finkel, took to his blog to discuss the Draft as well. The Fink brought up an unlikely candidate for the Draft; Lilian Garcia. He suggested Lilian could leave her roots on Raw after more than a decade of being on the Red team and switch brands to SmackDown, similar to the shocking move of JR to SmackDown in last year’s Draft. I think that would actually be pretty interesting!

Who knows what will happen tonight, but I think Lilian switching brands would definitely send shockwaves throughout the WWE Universe! Don’t forget to join Diva Dirt‘s Live Blog too!

Welcome the 2009 edition of Diva Draft! It feels like just yesterday when I was putting together last year’s Diva Draft and what a result! I successfully predicted both of the Diva Draft picks as Layla moved to Raw and Maria moved to SmackDown. So this year there’s the added pressure of keeping my streak intact! Unlike last year, the Draft has moved up to April 13th from it’s usual late-June slot meaning it comes just a week after WrestleMania. So over the next few days leading up to the big Draft show, I will be predicting my picks for this year’s Draft. Like last year, I’ll be making six picks but this time, in six consecutive days.

LAYLA TO SMACKDOWN

Last year, I made a big play for Layla to move to Raw. I thought it could be a big boost for her career – it wasn’t. This girl is too awesome to go to waste. She’s got smouldering looks, dresses better than any other Diva could ever dream, has a great heel-ish personality and is pretty decent in the ring too. But over the last year, we’ve slowly forgotten how much she had improved during her time on ECW. Layla was showing a lot of promise on the microphone and she had some great matches with the likes of Michelle McCool during the ECW-SmackDown talent exchange. I thought a move to Raw would help take Layla to the next level, instead she got lost in the shuffle and eventually moved into a managerial role. I can count the number of matches she’s had on Raw in the last year, on one hand.

For a Diva who’s been on all three WWE brands, it’s time to move her to where she first started: SmackDown. Many forget that Layla came from the 2006 Diva Search along with Maryse. And look how their careers compare; Maryse is one of the top Divas in the company right now and also the Divas Champion. It just doesn’t seem right for Layla to be stuck in a non-wrestling role. I think she has more chance at flourishing on SmackDown, where she could become one of the top heels along with Maryse and Michelle McCool. Factor in feuds with the likes of the Bella Twins, Maria, Eve Torres and eventually Gail Kim, I think Layla could become a great all-around Diva and even a future Divas Champion.

Layla could slot in nicely on SmackDown as a wrestler. Or perhaps they could move both Layla and William Regal in the Supplemental Draft.

Check back later today for my final thoughts

Welcome the 2009 edition of Diva Draft! It feels like just yesterday when I was putting together last year’s Diva Draft and what a result! I successfully predicted both of the Diva Draft picks as Layla moved to Raw and Maria moved to SmackDown. So this year there’s the added pressure of keeping my streak intact! Unlike last year, the Draft has moved up to April 13th from it’s usual late-June slot meaning it comes just a week after WrestleMania. So over the next few days leading up to the big Draft show, I will be predicting my picks for this year’s Draft. Like last year, I’ll be making six picks but this time, in six consecutive days.

THE BELLA TWINS TO RAW

Last year, I predicted a possible move to Raw for then-ECW Diva, Layla. When I made that selection, I made it as a ‘wildcard pick’, a pick I felt was kind of ‘out there’ and would make people go “What?!” Lo and behold, Layla was drafted to Raw. So this year, I decided to bring back my wildcard pick and this is it.

In the fifth of my six picks, I’ve decided to go for the Bella Twins moving to Raw. The storyline idea I had for them was kinda ‘out there’ in itself, so there’s probably a slim-to-no chance of it ever happening. A little backstory: When I first made the decision to go with this Draft pick, the Bellas hadn’t miraculously reunited. That occurred over the weekend. My idea was that since they didn’t accompany their respective tag teams at WrestleMania or the next night on Raw, WWE had quietly dropped the Bella angle to this feud in preparation of the Draft where Miz & Morrison are rumoured to be split up. My feeling was that given WWE’s disregard for the Divas, you could just pair the Bellas back together on any given show and just have the announcers say “Oh they made up.” Well they did, which makes the next portion of my pick a lot easier to explain!

Since these two Divas hit the scene, I’ve always thought it would be cool to pair them up with a certain Diva who shares their Latin roots – Melina. There has never really been a Divas stable in WWE and I thought this would be a cool combination. When Melina was injured, I pondered the idea of having her return on SmackDown and team up with the Bellas. But with Melina back on Raw, I would suggest moving the newly-reunited Twins to that brand and become the A-List Diva’s entourage sort of like Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder were to Edge.

The Bella Twins have always been background characters so I wouldn’t think of it as a promotion per se, because they’d only really be supporting characters to the Women’s Champion and help her in her feud with Beth Phoenix, Santino and Rosa Mendes.

It would work well for them, giving them a little rub from the Women’s Champion and also play into Melina’s character of being the A-List Diva having an entourage etc. A long shot, but there is my annual wildcard pick…

Check back tomorrow for the 6th Draft pick and my final thoughts

Welcome the 2009 edition of Diva Draft! It feels like just yesterday when I was putting together last year’s Diva Draft and what a result! I successfully predicted both of the Diva Draft picks as Layla moved to Raw and Maria moved to SmackDown. So this year there’s the added pressure of keeping my streak intact! Unlike last year, the Draft has moved up to April 13th from it’s usual late-June slot meaning it comes just a week after WrestleMania. So over the next few days leading up to the big Draft show, I will be predicting my picks for this year’s Draft. Like last year, I’ll be making six picks but this time, in six consecutive days.

NATALYA TO RAW

In my next Draft pick, I aim to right a wrong that I feel was made with this here Diva, Natalya. When she first debuted in April of last year, I said from the get-go that I felt WWE missed the boat with this third generation star. With her family lineage and extremely impressive in-ring skills, I felt that Natalya should have been brought to Raw as a babyface. Given the rich history behind her family, including the fact that her uncle Bret Hart, is still one of the most celebrated and respected wrestlers of all time – I have always felt that by using her family ties WWE could put over Natalya as the top Diva in the WWE, a possible replacement for Trish Stratus. But alas, WWE wasted the opportunity to set this Diva apart from the rest and now she’s kind of been lost in the shuffle.

In the 2009 Draft, I would hope WWE finally utilises this multi-talented Diva and finally moves her to Raw where I think she could be a major force to be reckoned with. While she had the opportunity to become the first ever Divas Champion last year, I think Natalya is a much better fit for the Women’s Championship and I think she could eventually become one of the top heels on the entire Divas roster. If WWE played things right, rather than having her play second fiddle to Beth Phoenix, you could have Natalya go for the title while Beth is preoccupied with other things (i.e. Santina or a possible feud with Rosa Mendes). I would hate to see a talent like Natalya squandered under Beth, like Jillian.

Natalya definitely could become a face in future, if WWE draws enough on her family heritage. This girl is destined for big things, but up until this point they haven’t given her enough time to shine.

Check back later today for Draft pick #5

Welcome the 2009 edition of Diva Draft! It feels like just yesterday when I was putting together last year’s Diva Draft and what a result! I successfully predicted both of the Diva Draft picks as Layla moved to Raw and Maria moved to SmackDown. So this year there’s the added pressure of keeping my streak intact! Unlike last year, the Draft has moved up to April 13th from it’s usual late-June slot meaning it comes just a week after WrestleMania. So over the next few days leading up to the big Draft show, I will be predicting my picks for this year’s Draft. Like last year, I’ll be making six picks but this time, in six consecutive days.

ALICIA FOX TO SMACKDOWN

She may not be a ‘top Diva’, but she’s certainly got the potential to become one. In my third Draft pick, I’m nominating ECW’s Alicia Fox to save her own life and ditch that pesky DJ!

Alicia is no stranger to the SmackDown brand where she debuted last year, but she certainly wasn’t in a role like the one I have in mind for her. Alicia is the total package: she’s advanced in the ring from her time in the developmental system, she’s got great looks and is camera friendly. Already on ECW, Alicia has done battle in some good television matches with Katie Lea and Natalya, proving that she’s more than ready for a push as the wrestler.

In FCW, Alicia has shown a lot of progress and talent in the ring during the three years she’s been in development. After being signed at the same time as Kelly Kelly, Alicia was sent straight to OVW and later FCW, while Kelly found instant fame on ECW. However now three years later, I’d go as far as to say Alicia is more advanced than Kelly.

By moving to SmackDown, my aim would be to shake off Alicia’s ‘manager’ position and move her into a babyface wrestling role. Serving under the guidance of Gail Kim, I think Alicia could be able to learn to work the crowd as well as Divas including Maryse, Michelle McCool, the Bellas and Natalya. Teaming up with Gail and Maria, Alicia could serve as the third babyface of the brand making up the numbers in tag matches as well as hopefully having her own feuds and developing as a breakout star. I could definitely see her becoming a future Divas Champion and for that to happen, she needs to be on SmackDown.

Check back tomorrow for Draft pick #4

Welcome the 2009 edition of Diva Draft! It feels like just yesterday when I was putting together last year’s Diva Draft and what a result! I successfully predicted both of the Diva Draft picks as Layla moved to Raw and Maria moved to SmackDown. So this year there’s the added pressure of keeping my streak intact! Unlike last year, the Draft has moved up to April 13th from it’s usual late-June slot meaning it comes just a week after WrestleMania. So over the next few days leading up to the big Draft show, I will be predicting my picks for this year’s Draft. Like last year, I’ll be making six picks but this time, in six consecutive days.

MARYSE TO RAW

Am I blowing my load too soon? Yesterday Mickie James and today Maryse, looks like I’m giving away my top picks early on! How generous of me. So the second of my six Draft picks is the French poodle and Divas Champion, Maryse! Since making her in-ring debut last year, this Diva has been on a roll. In her rookie year as a wrestler, Maryse became not only a serious title contender, but a champion. To be that young, sexy and talented should be a crime, but for Maryse it’s just everyday life.

With her cocky attitude and impressive moveset, Maryse leaped over the likes of Natalya and Victoria to face Michelle McCool in the then-Divas Champion’s first title defence at Unforgiven last September. The feud between these two was red hot and saw the Sexiest of the Sexy eventually gain the title in December. But for Maryse, there seems to be a higher calling than SmackDown’s Divas Championship. Fans on the Internet have been very vocal about moving the Champ to Raw and you know what? It seems likely. With reports that Vince McMahon himself is a Maryse fan, that kind of endorsement could help move Maryse to the live Monday night show. While there’s still lots for her to do on SmackDown (feuds with Gail and Maria over the Divas Championship), Maryse could also slot nicely on Raw.

But if she were to move to Raw, she’d be starting all over again. I don’t see her becoming the top heel of Raw over Beth Phoenix, but having the dynamic of two top heel Divas (like her and Michelle on SmackDown) would give the Women’s Champion, Melina some good feuds for the rest of the year.

But what of the Divas Championship? She can’t bring it with her to Raw, surely? In the same vain as the WWE Championship and World Heavyweight Championhip matches set for Backlash by Vickie Guerrero this past week on Raw, I suggest WWE makes a Divas Championship match for the pay per view that ‘must take place no matter the outcome of the Draft’. That way you could have Gail go over and keep the title on SmackDown.

Personally, I think it’s too soon to ship Maryse to Raw. But this is WWE and more often than not, once an act becomes hot on SmackDown, they usually get shipped to Raw…

Check back tomorrow for Draft pick #3

Seems like paparazzi agency TMZ still has WWE fever! Granted, people like TMZ only report on the WWE when there’s something negative to say, like a death due to overdose. However, a recent post on their website recounts an interaction with Raw Diva Candice Michelle. Here is a reader’s story of what happened on the flight out of Houston with the Candy Coated Diva:

I shared a ride to the airport with her and was on her plane leaving Houston. She mentioned she was looking forward to a few days off to heal her ankle more, because she was on it way too much this past weekend.

She also stated that she hopes to be on Smackdown after the draft as it will help in her recovery. Not exactly sure why, but she was [an] extremely nice person.

I personally couldn’t agree with Candice more! I have been saying for quite some time that Candice needs to go to SmackDown bad. Her character has become desperately stale on Raw. She has been very injury-prone and I don’t think she has returned to the kind of wrestler she was before her first clavicle injury with Beth Phoenix. She had an amazing 2007: a Playboy cover, the Women’s Championship, and the top face Diva on Raw. Suddenly, a year and a few injuries later, and Candice is occasionally seen… backstage. She got to crown Santina, but that’s about the most she’s done in quite some time.

A move to SmackDown would revive her career so much, in my opinion. She would be one of the top faces of the blue brand, working alongside Gail Kim and Maria, (hopefully above Maria) and could eventually be in line for a run with the Divas Championship if her cards are played right and she gets back into tip-top shape as far as her wrestling goes. I’m glad Candice sees this too; there’s no way she’s going to be the top Diva like she was in the past with the likes of Melina, Mickie James, and Kelly Kelly in competition for that spot too. Although, with the Draft coming up, both brands could be looking completely different, but if you ask me, going to SmackDown could be just what her career needs or she could very well find herself being wished well on her future endeavors…

Welcome the 2009 edition of Diva Draft! It feels like just yesterday when I was putting together last year’s Diva Draft and what a result! I successfully predicted both of the Diva Draft picks as Layla moved to Raw and Maria moved to SmackDown. So this year there’s the added pressure of keeping my streak intact! Unlike last year, the Draft has moved up to April 13th from it’s usual late-June slot meaning it comes just a week after WrestleMania. So over the next few days leading up to the big Draft show, I will be predicting my picks for this year’s Draft. Like last year, I’ll be making six picks but this time, in six consecutive days.

MICKIE JAMES TO SMACKDOWN

She’s won more Women’s Championships than most Divas could dream to win in a career. Mickie James has been a huge part of Raw in the last few years, that she’s done all there is to do. She’s been a fan favourite, she’s been a psycho heel, she’s been a four time Women’s Champ in the process. She’s wrestled Melina, she’s wrestled, she’s wrestled Jillian and even Santino too. Mickie could use a change of scenery and the opportunity to have more title reigns – but this time holding the Divas Championship.

Over on SmackDown, there’s a fresh pool of talent for Mickie to work with including Gail Kim, Michelle McCool, Maryse, Natalya and Maria. The match opportunities on that brand should keep the Diva with her hands full while adding some star power to the Divas division of SmackDown. Maria, Mickie and Gail as the top faces and Maryse, Michelle and Natalya as top heels. It works.

Mickie taking on the likes of Michelle and Natalya, in particular are really exciting. I’ve been hankering for some McCool-James action since Survivor Series last year when these two put on an enticing engage in the Raw vs SmackDown elimination match. Then, just this past Sunday they slugged it out big time at WrestleMania too.

Mickie has been such a mainstay on Raw since Trish and Lita left, that’s it weird to think of her being anywhere else. But Melina and Beth Phoenix are more than capable of carrying the Monday night show post-Draft.

What do you think? Should Mickie find pastures… blue?

Check back tomorrow for Draft pick #2

During a recent sitdown with the WWE Universe, ECW and sometimes SmackDown Diva Natalya was questioned about a lot of current and upcoming events. Here’s what the third-generation Diva had to say:

Q: Thoughts on the upcoming draft?
A: I want to fight and compete and show my guts. Wherever [show] I can do that is fine with me, but can Tyson come, too? I could see Tyson tearing it up with the likes of Rey Mysterio on Raw and even Shelton Benjamon on Smackdown. You never know!

Q: What do you think of Gail Kim?
A: Gail has a real fighting spirit; I admire that.

Q: Who are some future opponents she’d like to get in the ring with?
A:  I want to face many of the Divas on Raw such as Melina, who is the current Women’s Champ. Beth Pheonix and I have been compared for years and I look forward to the day when we go nose to nose in the ring!

Q: Why would you like to square off against Beth Phoenix?
A: For so many years people have compared Beth to me. I see the similarities, but I know the differences. I know that I come from a place where no one else has been, and I’m not just talking about The Dungeon. Beth Pheonix may meet her match in me, and get a whole lot more than she can handle. I look forward to that moment, and I truly believe that will happen!!

I don’t know about y’all, but I have been itching to see a Natalya vs. Beth Phoenix match for a long time. I wish she had more to say about Gail Kim because that’s also another match I would love to see. As far as the draft is concerned, I don’t really see Beth Phoenix moving off Raw, but Natalya’s status confuses me. She is a SmackDown Diva but she only appears on ECW in the corner of Tyson Kidd and not in SmackDown matches. Well, that was up until the Raw vs. SmackDown tag match we saw on Raw, where Natalya was on Team SmackDown.

From the looks of things, I think Natalya’s status all depends on Tyson Kidd, which I hate to say. She is her own self, but being paired with Tyson, she will probably end up wherever he ends up, if he even leaves ECW. Natalya is great on SmackDown, and I think a match like Natalya vs. Beth should be saved for a special interpromotional PPV event, maybe One Night Stand (which I’m using since I just found out it will be in New Orleans and I must attend), or even the new WWE Superstars show debuting next Thursday, April 16. That would be pretty good season premiere match if you ask me!

Diva Dirt‘s ‘Diva Draft’ feature returns for 2009! In the second annual feature, can Melanie once again successfully predict some of the Diva Draft picks? Last year, I successfully picked Maria to move to SmackDown and Layla to Raw.

Relive the 2008 Diva Draft:
- Take a look at last year’s Diva Draft picks
- Read last  year’s post-Draft thoughts column
- The Big Idea: Ideas for Maria & Layla on their new shows

A look at past Drafts
- A look at the 2007 Draft
- Draft Rewind: 2002
- Draft Rewind: 2004
- Draft Rewind: 2007

EDIT: Postponed till tomorrow

Week after week, I find myself watching WWE and continuously getting let down with the state of our Divas. I think we’ve got a great mix of athletic, beautiful girls, but clearly the WWE and their Creative Team don’t know what to do. With all the talk of who might be going where in the upcoming draft, I thought I’d give my opinion of why the Draft needs to happen sooner than later. I know it’s probably a little early to start making predictions since the Draft doesn’t happen till after WrestleMania, but it is starting to seem like the Creative Team is just filling up time until the Draft happens.

I think Raw is trying to make sure each Diva gets a little TV time instead of focusing on making well-developed storylines, while SmackDown has the more creative storylines but not the right roster to carry it out. 

So what do we do?!? Here’s what I think: a complete shakeup is necessary. The feuds are getting old, quickly. How many more times can we see Beth Phoenix vs. Melina, Mickie James, or Candice? It is becoming more and more obvious that Natalya is headed over to Raw, which I am all in favor of, so long as she doesn’t become Beth Phoenix’s shadow. In her place, I think Candice should come to SmackDown. Kelly Kelly is doing pretty well on Raw, and I think bringing Candice to SmackDown will not only revitalize her character, but it will also have her replace Maria as the #2 top face behind the incoming Gail Kim until Maria can figure out how to wrestle a little better.  Finally, to complete SmackDown’s new roster, bring in Katie Lea from ECW. A little homework on Katie Lea would show you that she has beaten Beth Phoenix in a Ladder Match back in OVW. Can you imagine?! Katie Lea is the new Jillian, in my opinion, and that’s a tragedy. As for the Bella Twins, either they need to split up and feud with each other, or they need to go into singles action and do some kind of switcheroo like they are doing in tag team matches. If it’s done right, it will be like what Edge and Christian used to do back in the days of the Brood, and it will make for a great twist. I am, however, very pleased with Maryse as Divas Champion and Michelle McCool improving as a heel.

Since Raw will be in need of a new face, I vote to bring in Alicia Fox. She has tons of potential to be a champion in the future. Secondly, make Layla an active wrestler or at least a valet who has some sort of significance! Layla is an amazing heel and I think that if done right and paired with someone besides William Regal, she could definitely become a force to be reckoned with. Finally, I think that (make sure you’re sitting down for this one) Jillian should turn face and Mickie should turn into a psychotic heel. It allow for Mickie James’ character to get refreshed. Having Beth and Mickie be friendly towards each other in a joint effort to take out Melina and Kelly?! Oh my!

I think the only Diva I left out is Tiffany. As much as I would like to call her the new Lena Yada, I can’t. I kind of like her as an assistant GM. Oh, and also Tiffany happens to be from New Orleans, like myself. Not only do we share a hometown, but I also used to be in her Biology class. So, I just can’t find it in me to wish that my former lab partner be released. Hey, if WWE really wanted to, they could send Maria over to ECW and have these two duke it out because they both need some practice!! One of them more so than the other…. *cough*

Thank you, WWE!!! Hot diggity, to say Melanie is pleased would be an understatement! Now I hate to toot my own horn, but that’s exactly what I’m going to do, so if you cannot stand self-adulation please keep scrolling down the page. The 2008 Draft is in the books and two Divas were drafted earlier today, in the Supplemental Draft and Melanie is two for two as Layla moves to Monday Night Raw and Maria moves to Friday Night SmackDown. These were the two drafts that I wanted to see the most and perhaps someone in WWE reads this blog, because those two moves were exactly what we saw today.

I’d like to start off with some commiserations, unfortunately Kelly Kelly wasn’t moved to SmackDown, another of the draft moves I’d love to have seen. Kelly has simply outgrown her current home of ECW and she really deserved the opportunity to move to SmackDown and develop some more, because she has impressed even her worst critics (i.e. me) of late. Also, unfortunate is Ashley not being moved to ECW (or off the face of the earth), I wouldn’t be surprised if WWE wished Ashley all the best in her future endeavors at this point. After keeping her off television for so long, the Draft was the perfect time to re-introduce Ashley albeit on a different brand. Since they haven’t, I don’t think they will bring her back to Raw. Oh well, can’t say I’m fussed. Enough talk of the “Dirty (smelly, trampy) Diva”, we have some real Divas to discuss.

Layla
It’s no secret that I saw something in Layla since day one, even though I abhor the Diva Search, I loved Layla because she was so different and unique and that’s a good thing compared to the cookie cutter blonde Divas. It seems my initial interest her proved right – she has blossomed into quite the Diva and I feel almost like the “proud momma” (it’s a Tyra thang) seeing how far Layla has come since the Diva Search. Layla has taken to professional wrestling like a duck to water, developing into a fine wrestler and unlike some of the other Diva Search contestants and models, has actually developed character and depth in her persona. While Kelly Kelly, Ashley, Maria and Michelle all struggle to create a character to put over to the television audience, Layla plays the bad girl so well. Layla has made strides, especially in the past year, she has put on some very good matches on SmackDown and ECW.

I really put it out there when I suggested Layla move to Raw two weeks ago in Diva Draft, I thought Layla moving to Raw could be a “wildcard”, something fans wouldn’t expect or see coming. I thought that post would be met with loads of comments like “Melanie what are you smoking?!” but many of you agreed and Melanie seemed to have started off a little movement on the Internet. Well I’m truly proud that the movement paid off, because Layla could be an amazing asset to Raw. Like I wrote two weeks ago and this past weekend in my PWInsider column, I don’t think Layla is title material just yet but she has exceeded her ECW and SmackDown counterparts and deserves the promotion. Every brand needs that Diva who can make up the numbers in tag matches, can job and put someone over – like Maria and Ashley do on Raw. Meanwhile, Layla is all that and much more – as well as serving that role, Layla has her own personality and spunky character and can bring more dimensions to that role. Plus needless to say, she’s much better in the ring than both Maria and Ashley and will be able to carry a match better than they could. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, Layla would benefit from this as she’s done the SmackDown and ECW scenes – she could benefit from working on a live show with a group of Divas that have the same levels of experience in the ring (on SmackDown, for every Kelly you have a Victoria), she could grow as a wrestler from working with Beth, Mickie, Melina, Katie and Jillian.

Oh and also I hear it’s Layla’s birthday? What a birthday present! Happy birthday, Layla!

Maria after the cut:

Maria
This was not only a move I wanted to see happen, but a move that needed to happen. After four years, Maria has reached her pinnacle on Raw and as much as she has whined in interviews that she doesn’t want to leave “her home”, surely she should have realised by now that she will never be a top Diva or Women’s Champion while on Raw? Her Playboy push (or lack thereof) should have driven that message home, anyway. While the likes of Candice, Michelle, Maryse, Layla, Kelly and Cherry have grown as performers and passed her by – Maria has remained stagnant as both a character and a wrestler. She has developed as a wrestler only ever so slightly, when compared to her SmackDown counterparts they put her to shame. I have argued in my PWInsider column, that perhaps being on Raw hinders developing Divas growing as wrestlers rather than helps them? Anyway, I think Maria’s move to SmackDown is absolutely beneficial to her. Don’t get me wrong, I talk tough and I may seem harsh towards Maria but the truth is, I want to like her, I really, honestly do. I think she has a lot of potential, a diamond in the rough and could be a top Diva, but not while she’s stuck in this rut. I welcome her move to SmackDown with open arms and she should too.

Maria, whether we like to admit it or not, is a big name for the WWE Divas. Like Torrie Wilson before her, she may not be renowned for her wrestling skills but in every other aspect WWE has built up and relied a lot on the Maria brand name. Moving to SmackDown, Maria would add some star power to the women’s division, her name value would rocket her to the top of the SmackDown’s women’s division – co-headling with “home grown” talent Michelle McCool as the two top Divas on SmackDown. I liken this to Trish Stratus and Lita, both were the top Divas of the WWE, there wasn’t just one. I really like the dynamic of Maria and Michelle as the top faces and Natalya and Victoria as the top heels, the match possibilities and storyline possibilities will set SmackDown up for the rest of the year (and maybe even then some).

In other respects, Maria would be able to “drink from the pool” that Michelle, Kelly and Layla have drunk from and grow as a wrestler. The aforementioned three Divas have shown strides as performers and this could definitely be good for Maria, like I said, I think she’s a diamond in the rough and given the right level of training and experience on SmackDown, she could show drastic development like Michelle and co. by the end of the year. Make no mistake, Maria’s move to SmackDown is not a demotion nor a reward, it is however, a mutually beneficial relationship. Maria, embrace SmackDown!

What do you think? Pleased with the draft picks? Vote below to vote for the pick you’re most happy with:

[poll=78]

Welcome to Diva Dirt’s Diva Draft! As the annual WWE Draft looms ever closer, airing on June 23rd this year, we will be looking at the Divas we think should move shows and why. Over the next four weeks, we will be sharing our guide to the Divas we think she should be move brands! In all, we’ll have 6 Divas making the switch in our virtual guide. Check back every Wednesday until the Draft for more Divas!

Editor’s Note: Welcome to the fourth and final week of Diva Draft, the Draft is just a few days away and lots of buzz is going around the Internet about who will be drafted where. Last week, I chose to switch Layla to RAW and this is something many of you surprisingly agreed with. This week, our draft concludes with the final two picks we think should make the move to another brand.

Pick #1: Maria
From: RAW
To: SmackDown!
Why: Maria is suffering from a severe case of envy, girl wishes it was still March when she was on RAW every week. As a result of her ditching the bimbo gimmick for Playboy, she can’t go back to her ditzy fun-loving character. Lately, she’s become a jobber on RAW and so she should be with the likes of Mickie, Melina and Beth on the brand. Maria’s been on RAW for 4 years without really being all that great in the ring, I don’t know how she’s lasted so long. It’s time she was moved over to SmackDown! Maria has said in the past that she doesn’t wanna leave RAW, well as far as I’m concerned she doesn’t belong there. In my eyes, the way SmackDown!’s going, there’s no shame in being moved there. SmackDown! is the “learning brand” Diva-wise, she’ll have the chance to work with the great Victoria, even Natalya and grow more confident in the ring. On SmackDown!, she’ll have the benefit of fresh feuds (Victoria, Natalya, Maryse) as well as the chance to be a babyface and top Diva like Michelle currently is. Maria is definitely my #1 Diva pick to switch brands.

Pick #2: Kelly Kelly
From: ECW
To: SmackDown!
Why: Kelly Kelly’s another Diva who could do with being placed on SmackDown!, it seems to me that the Diva has simply outgrown her current home of ECW. By becoming a fully fledged SmackDown! Diva, Kelly will be able to grow and mould her basic wrestling skills (though she is showing vast improvements) as well as develop her character. Like Torrie Wilson and Michelle McCool before her, SmackDown! could easily become Kelly’s stomping ground. I see SmackDown! as the training ground for developing Divas, you train hard, showcase your stuff on SmackDown!, develop as a character before graduating to RAW. Kelly could definitely prosper from that way of business.

Pick #3: Michelle McCool
From: SmackDown!
To: RAW
Why: Michelle is the Diva being buzzed about this year that fans think should make the move. Last year, it was Jillian (see how well that turned out?) and this year it’s the All-American Girl, who’s made waves on SmackDown! over the past 6 months. She’s come a long way for a former Diva Search contestant, she is now SmackDown!’s top Diva and has improved vastly in the ring. Is it time she got to showcase her skills on the “A” show? I would suggest so. Michelle could really benefit from experiencing how RAW does things: the fully-fledged women’s division is on RAW for one, plus the show is live. Michelle would get a flare for Monday nights from working with Mickie James, Beth Phoenix and Melina and who knows, maybe after working her way up the ranks, she could even be pushed for the Women’s Championship?

Pick #4: Layla
From: ECW
To: RAW
Why: Yes, RAW. All this talk about how Candice has improved, how Michelle and Kelly have improved we’ve forgotten about Layla. Layla, in my eyes, is miles ahead of the rest of the pack – she may not be as good in the ring as Michelle, but one thing that she has that the aforementioned don’t – is personality and charisma. Layla has really developed a character for herself and become the bad girl we love to hate, plus she has decent in-ring skills that she can enhance. The reason I put her on RAW is because every brand needs that enhancement talent to help put over the other Divas and I think Layla has the skillset and personality to make it on the A-show. I don’t think she’d be Women’s Championship material (not yet anyway), but she’d definitely be a good candidate to job to the likes of Mickie and Melina, to put them over and also make up the numbers in tag team matches. I guess it’s not as glamourous a role as being Women’s Champion, but Layla would be able to grow as a performer working with the RAW Divas while showing what she has already got.

Pick #5: Ashley
From: RAW
To: ECW
Why: Get her away from RAW. Get her away from Divas who can wrestle. Get her away from anything that is good and holy! Ashley honestly deserves to be stuck on ECW in a holding pattern for the rest of her career.

Pick #6: Jillian
From: RAW
To: SmackDown
Why: It seems everyone except Jillian has been getting some spotlight on RAW, in the year since she moved to the brand. I mean seriously, it’s amazing how all the RAW Divas have had high profile feuds and matches all except Jillian. Ashley and Maria got a plush WrestleMania slot, Candice Michelle became the Women’s Champion and more recently Mickie, Beth and Melina have all been involved in the brand’s top storylines and the title hunt. And now as Jillian approaches one year as a RAW Diva – a Diva that debuted just a few months ago is getting a title shot over her! I am of course talking about Katie Lea. So what about Jillian? She has pretty much been a jobber on RAW and I think moving her back to SmackDown! could reinvigorate her character like it did for Victoria. SmackDown! really could use a talented worker like Jillian to add to it’s growing women’s division and she’d actually have a shot at the Divas Championship.

Final Thoughts: Since I began this feature four weeks ago a lot has changed and some of that has affected my draft picks. In light of the Divas Championship, I would pull Pick #3 and keep Michelle on SmackDown! where she can be the top face competing for the title with the likes of Victoria, Natalya etc. Ideally, I think SmackDown! and ECW deserves to gain more talent as they can split the talent between the two brands. Meanwhile as RAW is live, there’s a lot more to fit onto the broadcast and as such, there’s a limited amount of positions for the Divas. I would limit RAW to 6 Divas: Candice, Melina and Mickie as faces and Beth, Katie and Layla as heels. Over on SmackDown!, the brand would gain Maria and Kelly as faces, who can work with Michelle as the top face Divas while the top heel Divas would be Jillian, Natalya and Victoria. As SmackDown! has ECW also, it can split matches etc. between the two brands and therefore I think SmackDown! should have more talent. Maryse and Cherry are fine for serving lesser roles in the division as they currently do. Meanwhile, Eve and Lena hardly factor in as they’re backstage interviewers. As for Ashley, well… *Ends dramatically like Sopranos series finale*

Anyway, time for a poll! Which draft pick do you most agree with? Vote below:

[poll=69]

Welcome to Diva Dirt’s Diva Draft! As the annual WWE Draft looms ever closer, airing on June 23rd this year, we will be looking at the Divas we think should move shows and why. Over the next four weeks, we will be sharing our guide to the Divas we think she should be move brands! In all, we’ll have 6 Divas making the switch in our virtual guide. Check back every Wednesday until the Draft for more Divas!

Editor’s Note: Welcome to week three of Diva Draft, we are getting ever closer to the WWE Draft and I’m looking forward to seeing some Divas making the move, hopefully Divas we have listed below! Last week’s choice, Michelle McCool, some of you agreed and some of you didn’t. This week’s pick is going to be a little unusual for most of you, read below…

Pick #1: Maria
From: RAW
To: SmackDown!
Why: Maria is suffering from a severe case of envy, girl wishes it was still March when she was on RAW every week. As a result of her ditching the bimbo gimmick for Playboy, she can’t go back to her ditzy fun-loving character. Lately, she’s become a jobber on RAW and so she should be with the likes of Mickie, Melina and Beth on the brand. Maria’s been on RAW for 4 years without really being all that great in the ring, I don’t know how she’s lasted so long. It’s time she was moved over to SmackDown! Maria has said in the past that she doesn’t wanna leave RAW, well as far as I’m concerned she doesn’t belong there. In my eyes, the way SmackDown!’s going, there’s no shame in being moved there. SmackDown! is the “learning brand” Diva-wise, she’ll have the chance to work with the great Victoria, even Natalya and grow more confident in the ring. On SmackDown!, she’ll have the benefit of fresh feuds (Victoria, Natalya, Maryse) as well as the chance to be a babyface and top Diva like Michelle currently is. Maria is definitely my #1 Diva pick to switch brands.

Pick #2: Kelly Kelly
From: ECW
To: SmackDown!
Why: Kelly Kelly’s another Diva who could do with being placed on SmackDown!, it seems to me that the Diva has simply outgrown her current home of ECW. By becoming a fully fledged SmackDown! Diva, Kelly will be able to grow and mould her basic wrestling skills (though she is showing vast improvements) as well as develop her character. Like Torrie Wilson and Michelle McCool before her, SmackDown! could easily become Kelly’s stomping ground. I see SmackDown! as the training ground for developing Divas, you train hard, showcase your stuff on SmackDown!, develop as a character before graduating to RAW. Kelly could definitely prosper from that way of business.

Pick #3: Michelle McCool
From: SmackDown!
To: RAW
Why: Michelle is the Diva being buzzed about this year that fans think should make the move. Last year, it was Jillian (see how well that turned out?) and this year it’s the All-American Girl, who’s made waves on SmackDown! over the past 6 months. She’s come a long way for a former Diva Search contestant, she is now SmackDown!’s top Diva and has improved vastly in the ring. Is it time she got to showcase her skills on the “A” show? I would suggest so. Michelle could really benefit from experiencing how RAW does things: the fully-fledged women’s division is on RAW for one, plus the show is live. Michelle would get a flare for Monday nights from working with Mickie James, Beth Phoenix and Melina and who knows, maybe after working her way up the ranks, she could even be pushed for the Women’s Championship?

Pick #4: Layla
From: ECW
To: RAW
Why: Yes, RAW. All this talk about how Candice has improved, how Michelle and Kelly have improved we’ve forgotten about Layla. Layla, in my eyes, is miles ahead of the rest of the pack – she may not be as good in the ring as Michelle, but one thing that she has that the aforementioned don’t – is personality and charisma. Layla has really developed a character for herself and become the bad girl we love to hate, plus she has decent in-ring skills that she can enhance. The reason I put her on RAW is because every brand needs that enhancement talent to help put over the other Divas and I think Layla has the skillset and personality to make it on the A-show. I don’t think she’d be Women’s Championship material (not yet anyway), but she’d definitely be a good candidate to job to the likes of Mickie and Melina, to put them over and also make up the numbers in tag team matches. I guess it’s not as glamourous a role as being Women’s Champion, but Layla would be able to grow as a performer working with the RAW Divas while showing what she has already got.

Pick #5: ???
From: Find out on June 18th
To: Find out on June 18th
Why: Find out on June 18th

Pick #6: ???
From: Find out on June 18th
To: Find out on June 18th
Why: Find out on June 18th

Check back next week for the final two picks!

Welcome to Diva Dirt‘s Diva Draft! As the annual WWE Draft looms ever closer, airing on June 23rd this year, we will be looking at the Divas we think should move shows and why. Over the next four weeks, we will be sharing our guide to the Divas we think she should be move brands! In all, we’ll have 6 Divas making the switch in our virtual guide. Check back every Wednesday until the Draft for more Divas!

Editor’s Note: Welcome to week two of Diva Draft, we are now three weeks away from the WWE Draft on June 23rd. Last week, I picked Maria and Kelly Kelly to be the first Divas to switch brands during the Draft and from reading your comments, many of you agreed with me. Both Divas are polar opposites, one has accomplished very little on her brand and the other has done everything on hers. This week however, it’s just one pick (we have to pace ourselves!) and it may be a little controversial for you guys…

I gotta admit, the announcement that SmackDown!’s getting it’s own women’s title has thrown a spanner in the works, so for the purpose of this feature I will act as though it doesn’t exist!

Pick #1: Maria
From: RAW
To: SmackDown!
Why: Maria is suffering from a severe case of envy, girl wishes it was still March when she was on RAW every week. As a result of her ditching the bimbo gimmick for Playboy, she can’t go back to her ditzy fun-loving character. Lately, she’s become a jobber on RAW and so she should be with the likes of Mickie, Melina and Beth on the brand. Maria’s been on RAW for 4 years without really being all that great in the ring, I don’t know how she’s lasted so long. It’s time she was moved over to SmackDown! Maria has said in the past that she doesn’t wanna leave RAW, well as far as I’m concerned she doesn’t belong there. In my eyes, the way SmackDown!’s going, there’s no shame in being moved there. SmackDown! is the “learning brand” Diva-wise, she’ll have the chance to work with the great Victoria, even Natalya and grow more confident in the ring. On SmackDown!, she’ll have the benefit of fresh feuds (Victoria, Natalya, Maryse) as well as the chance to be a babyface and top Diva like Michelle currently is. Maria is definitely my #1 Diva pick to switch brands.

Pick #2: Kelly Kelly
From: ECW
To: SmackDown!
Why: Kelly Kelly’s another Diva who could do with being placed on SmackDown!, it seems to me that the Diva has simply outgrown her current home of ECW. By becoming a fully fledged SmackDown! Diva, Kelly will be able to grow and mould her basic wrestling skills (though she is showing vast improvements) as well as develop her character. Like Torrie Wilson and Michelle McCool before her, SmackDown! could easily become Kelly’s stomping ground. I see SmackDown! as the training ground for developing Divas, you train hard, showcase your stuff on SmackDown!, develop as a character before graduating to RAW. Kelly could definitely prosper from that way of business.

Pick #3: Michelle McCool
From: SmackDown!
To: RAW
Why: Michelle is the Diva being buzzed about this year that fans think should make the move. Last year, it was Jillian (see how well that turned out?) and this year it’s the All-American Girl, who’s made waves on SmackDown! over the past 6 months. She’s come a long way for a former Diva Search contestant, she is now SmackDown!’s top Diva and has improved vastly in the ring. Is it time she got to showcase her skills on the “A” show? I would suggest so. Michelle could really benefit from experiencing how RAW does things: the fully-fledged women’s division is on RAW for one, plus the show is live. Michelle would get a flare for Monday nights from working with Mickie James, Beth Phoenix and Melina and who knows, maybe after working her way up the ranks, she could even be pushed for the Women’s Championship?

Pick #4: ???
From: Find out on June 11th
To: Find out on June 11th
Why: Find out on June 11th

Pick #5: ???
From: Find out on June 18th
To: Find out on June 18th
Why: Find out on June 18th

Pick #6: ???
From: Find out on June 18th
To: Find out on June 18th
Why: Find out on June 18th

Welcome to Diva Dirt‘s Diva Draft! As the annual WWE Draft looms ever closer, airing on June 23rd this year, we will be looking at the Divas we think should move shows and why. Over the next four weeks, we will be sharing our guide to the Divas we think she should be move brands! In all, we’ll have 6 Divas making the switch in our virtual guide. Check back every Wednesday until the Draft for two more Divas!

Pick #1: Maria
From: RAW
To: SmackDown!
Why: Maria is suffering from a severe case of envy, girl wishes it was still March when she was on RAW every week. As a result of her ditching the bimbo gimmick for Playboy, she can’t go back to her ditzy fun-loving character. Lately, she’s become a jobber on RAW and so she should be with the likes of Mickie, Melina and Beth on the brand. Maria’s been on RAW for 4 years without really being all that great in the ring, I don’t know how she’s lasted so long. It’s time she was moved over to SmackDown! Maria has said in the past that she doesn’t wanna leave RAW, well as far as I’m concerned she doesn’t belong there. In my eyes, the way SmackDown!’s going, there’s no shame in being moved there. SmackDown! is the “learning brand” Diva-wise, she’ll have the chance to work with the great Victoria, even Natalya and grow more confident in the ring. On SmackDown!, she’ll have the benefit of fresh feuds (Victoria, Natalya, Maryse) as well as the chance to be a babyface and top Diva like Michelle currently is. Maria is definitely my #1 Diva pick to switch brands.

Pick #2: Kelly Kelly
From: ECW
To: SmackDown!
Why: Kelly Kelly’s another Diva who could do with being placed on SmackDown!, it seems to me that the Diva has simply outgrown her current home of ECW. By becoming a fully fledged SmackDown! Diva, Kelly will be able to grow and mould her basic wrestling skills (though she is showing vast improvements) as well as develop her character. Like Torrie Wilson and Michelle McCool before her, SmackDown! could easily become Kelly’s stomping ground. I see SmackDown! as the training ground for developing Divas, you train hard, showcase your stuff on SmackDown!, develop as a character before graduating to RAW. Kelly could definitely prosper from that way of business.

Pick #3: ???
From: Find out on June 4th
To: Find out on June 4th
Why: Find out on June 4th

Pick #4: ???
From: Find out on June 11th
To: Find out on June 11th
Why: Find out on June 11th

Pick #5: ???
From: Find out on June 18th
To: Find out on June 18th
Why: Find out on June 18th

Pick #6: ???
From: Find out on June 18th
To: Find out on June 18th
Why: Find out on June 18th

I’ve actually been working on this for about a week or so now, but the timing to launch it seems right since the 2008 WWE Draft was announced last night on RAW. Join us tomorrow and every Wednesday until the Draft on June 23rd, for our guide to which Divas should move where in “Diva Draft.”